Sunday, October 12, 2014

Book Review: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

725 Pages
Goodreads Rating: 4.52/5.00
Published: 2014

I would like to start off by saying that I binge-read the first five of these books, and felt that the series could have ended where the original trilogy did, with City of Glass. That being said, I did grow quite attached to the characters in these books and was only too glad that I got to read more about them.

This book was action packed and there was no slow or dragged out parts as there often is by the time a series reaches six books, and for that I was grateful. I'd like to highlight some of these points of action and how I felt about them......WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Emma Carstairs & The Blackthorns: Ok, I admit it took me more than a hundred or so pages of reading before I figured out who in the heck these people were and why they were in this book. If I'm not mistaken, these characters are going to be the main crew in Clare's new series, The Dark Artifices. I thought integrating them into this book was a creative way to familiarize readers with them and get their background story, as I believe this new series is set a few years into the future. The story of these characters pulled at my heart strings, largely because of the terrible losses they were enduring at such a young age. I thought Emma and Julian's friendship was the sweetest thing, and I hope that continues to be a prominent thing in this new series.

Magnus: I feel like a lot of things went down in this book and made Magnus a more important character than in the previous books. I enjoyed this because he is one of my favorite characters of the series, and though I haven't read The Bane Chronicles, I need to do so very soon. I also loved that we got to see more of Magnus and Alec, and I was glad they got to a good place in their relationship before the book ended - they were quite possibly my favorite couple of the series.

Jordan and Maia: I was SO distraught when Jordan died. I spent the next hundred pages or so waiting for some weird magic thing to go down so that he would be alive again. I felt so bad for Maia and the extra grief that she carried because she'd been intending to break up with him before he died. I was glad to see that as the book went on, her grief began to ease just a little, and she started to move on with her life, taking over as leader of the New York pack, and starting to form a relationship with Bat right at the very end.

Isabelle: Isabelle, the badass chick with the golden whip on her arm, was my favorite female character in this series. Throughout she always came off as the fierce, strong, independent girl who had no need for anyone else, but she became much more open to others after Max's death, and it was nice to see her open up and be vulnerable for a change. I found her and Simon's relationship to be mostly awkward with a touch of adorable. Isabelle finally allowed herself to accept her love for Simon, for whatever he was or was not, and he allowed himself to believe he really did feel for Isabelle and that she was not just a distraction from what he thought he really wanted, which would have been Clary.

Clary and Jace: At this point in the series, I was kind of feeling 'meh' about their relationship. To be honest it had dragged out and been over exaggerated in my opinion, and I was sick of hearing about the spark between them everytime they touched or kissed or looked at each other. I found it to be repetitive and started to take away from other elements of the book. On another note, all the power to Clary for finally stepping up and doing something when faced with the choice Sebastian gives her. The plan was well played on her and Jace's part. Though they are the main characters I must admit I enjoyed reading about them the least. 

Sebastian: Much as I hated douchebag Sebastian throughout, it was sad yet right that he turned back to Jonathan, without the demon in him, before he died. The extra level of feels added as Clary and Jocelyn mourned the brother and son they'd never had was just enough. 

Raphael: The vampire that everyone loved to hate. I admit I was a little saddened by his death. I fully expected him to take Sebastian up on his offer and kill Magnus without a thought, but it was nice to see that he did indeed have a conscience and a heart. I regretted that Sebastian killed him after reading that, although it was predictable considering his actions.

Simon: Oh, Simon. All the feels. Simon has been the adorably dorky and devoted best friend throughout the entire series. He never really belonged but yet a scene was never complete without him. It broke my heart when he offered to give up his memory so everyone he loved could return to their own realm. And then when he actually did forget everyone, and Clary went to their school and he didn't recognize her, I was devestated because I had hoped maybe it didn't go as planned. Though I thought the way in which he got his memory back was a bit shadily written, and maybe not as hyped as it deserved to be, I was pleased with where we left Simon in the end. 


As I said before, this series probably could've ended after City of Glass, but this book allowed the characters to finish growing into the people they were meant to become, and because of this I did appreciate getting the chance to read it.

My Rating: 


If you've read this series or just this book I'd love to hear your thoughts, as well as your recommendation on which of Clare's series I should start next! Thanks for reading :)

No comments: